More BiLevel coaches for GO Transit

Metrolinx, the agency overseeing the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in Ontario, said it has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply an additional 65 double-deck coaches for GO Transit rail services, with options for a further 75 vehicles.

The coaches will be assembled at Bombardier's Thunder Bay, Ontario, plant;the initial batch of 65 vehicles will be delivered between June 2016 and July 2017, taking GO Transit's double-deck fleet to 743 vehicles. The total value of the contract will be C$481 million (US$430 million) if all options are exercised.

"More and more people are using Go Transit and that trend has grown consistently over the last few years," says GO Transit President Greg Percy. "These new coaches will allow us to continue meeting our growth needs and support our plans for eventual two-way, all-day service on all of our rail lines."

Metrolinx is currently expanding rail capacity on GO Transit's Kitchener Line with the C$1.2 billion Georgetown South project, which will allowr rail services to be increased from 19 to 29 trains per day from 2015, while also providing capacity for UP Express services to Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The project, which is part of Metrolinx' Big Move investment program, involves the construction of two additional tracks in the northern half of the GO Georgetown South Corridor, and one additional track to the south.